Senate probe set on root cause of floods

MANILA, Philippines — Officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and other government agencies in charge of the country’s sewerage system will be grilled about the recent massive flooding in the metro, Sen. Grace Poe said yesterday.

Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on finance, said even officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) would also be questioned about reclamation activities.

Poe said the DENR will be asked about the reclamation. “What did the studies say? Because there are conflicting reports. The (Senate) sergeant-at-arms said it correctly when he said that kind of flooding had never happened in the Senate before.”

Aside from the scheduled hearing of the Senate committee on public works, Poe vowed to scrutinize the government budget and spending for projects meant to address flooding.

Poe pointed out that the “massive floodings could have been avoided had operations run smoothly, with no corruption and no neglect. Maybe even if there is flooding, it would not be that bad.”

The senator asked who does the studies for reclamation projects with national impact.

“When the local government approves and is given permission by the DENR, who really studies that?” Poe said, adding that when the government suspends the projects due to perceived harm to the environment, the investment will be affected.

“Those who approved must answer for why they allowed it. I don’t know what really happened. I have heard that others have continued the reclamation, but there are still some that are not allowed,” Poe said.

Poe also said the recent incident of massive flooding would need a whole-of-government approach to arrive at solutions.

“But there must be one leader when it comes to water. But there is no single department for that. We have seen in climate change that DPWH or DENR is not capable of water management. The process is very messy. There is MWSS, there is DENR, there is DPWH, so when there is a problem, they have to teach and teach. Now if there is a department, they will be responsible because, first of all, they will make the policy, what should be done,” she